#annnnd now I have to rush and go to my work place ugh

[bbyteach]

A little amends comic that is half trying some new brushes and also half wish fulfillment. I understand Lucius’s perspective as a fellow efficient gay in the work place & all his bitterness in my bones lol. I think all things are fine on his end after not getting killed off by the British tho, but he would appreciate it anyway

#ofmd #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd season 2 #our flag means death #edward teach #ofmd lucius #lucius spriggs #apparently he has a last name lol #my draws #I spent too much time on this and I would do it all again tbh #annnnd now I have to rush and go to my work place ugh

[pascallllllll1]

We Can Be Heroes: Apocalypse | Part 2

Summary: Reader and Missy regroup at the Moreno residence before setting off in search of Marcus.

Word Count: 2,340

Warnings: Typical end of the world stuff. Gore. Blood. Swearing.

Dusty mix match frames fill the tall entryway wall to your right, some moved out of place, a few have fallen to now remain on the dirt ridden floor. Could’ve been caused by someone who came in to scavenge and brushed into them, or maybe in a rush to get out Missy and Marcus accidentally had. However it may not matter now it still makes you feel as if you’re intruding, like you’re currently standing in the graveyard of this family's very personal space and life from before the virus. You move your flashlight in a zig zagged path across the family montage halting the motion as it lands on a large cherry red frame decorated with little pink finger prints. Behind shattered glass holds a precious photo of new born Missy laid on her mothers chest presumably right after being born and Marcus leaning over the woman’s left shoulder, eyes full of tears while gazing at his two girls as proud and full of love as a man could look.

Missy continues forward up the stairs no doubt to her room she’d been talking excitedly about getting to be in again for the whole walk here, when she shouts out to you over her shoulder.

“Hey (Y/N) I’m going to clean up and grab some clean clothes! You’re welcome to check out my dad's closet!” You grunt back a quick thanks to her never taking your eyes off the picture in front of you. Once her footsteps have left earshot you swiftly shift your eyes to her previous spot on the stairs to confirm her absence before slowly reaching an arm forward to grab hold of the frame taking it off the wall, plucking the photo out the back before folding it to put in the breast pocket of your windbreaker.

This feels wrong. Digging in the Marcus Morenos personal closet to find a non blood covered shirt, pair of tactile pants and socks was not a situation you ever imagined you’d end up in. So wrong. You repeat to yourself while dressing in the man’s clothes after attempting to clean yourself up, doing as best you could adjusting them to fit your size. Where are his damn belts? Oh. You make quick work of throwing your windbreaker on again while checking his drawers for anything of use, throwing an extra shirt and pair of pants into your bag before adjusting the straps back on your shoulders heading out of the room in search of Missy.

Coming down the stairs after not finding Missy in her bedroom you call out to her.

“find anything good?”

“Few intact cans of veggies, ugh-“ cutting the young girl's groan of disgust off while walking into the kitchen you send Missy a half serious glare and pointing a stern finger her way scolding her.

“Hey, you need those now more than ever, that's a good find kid.” Missy laughs off your comment with a roll of her eyes as she begins dragging the other items she managed to scrounge up to present to you.

“Yeah, yeah. Well I found some other good stuff too. Bandaids, cotton balls, Three rolls of toilet paper, five packs of instant noodles, box of macaroni, a jar of peanut butter and finally a pack of crackers!” She states proudly.

“OH! Annnnd,” She drags out while rounding the kitchen island to dig in the pantry beside the fridge.

“Some water bottles we can fill!” She finishes holding the bottles up for your approval. You give her a quick nod of confirmation while turning beginning to pack the stash away in Missy’s backpack. Looking back up to her now less excited face you tell her,

“You did really well, Miss. We’re gonna find your dad and he’s gonna be proud of how you’ve survived on your own.”

“Thanks (Y/N). But I guess I’m not really on my own now.”

You’re returning her to her dad, don't get attached. She’ll be gone soon or you could lose her in the process to the undead. She won’t replace him.

“No kiddo you aren’t.” Missy moves to hug you before bodies begin smashing against the large back sliding doors in the dining area, high pitched screeching and groans begin to fill the already dark creepy house when Missy grabs your hand and bag pulling you along with her as she rushes out of the kitchen. A loud bang followed by glass shattering not long after.

“There’s a car in the garage, here keys.” Shouts Missy throwing keys at you as she throws open the door to said room, both rounding the driver and passenger seat doors.

“Fuck! They must’ve followed us here from the city!”

“Language a child is present!”

“Missy this is NOT the time!!” Slamming your door shut you shakily put the keys in the ignition to start the car, engine roaring to life as it starts up. Just as the garage door clears the top of the car, your foot hits the gas after shifting to reverse, speeding backwards down the long driveway as the herd comes sprinting after. A particularly nasty looking infected jumps on the Mazda’s hood making crazed eye contact, another on the roof as you drift to right the vehicle facing forward heading back towards the fallen city.

“Where are we going!” Screamed Missy.

“Straight.” You respond calmly to the girl as your right gloved hand reaches across your torso to unsheathe a black needle point blade.

“Grab hold of the wheel and keep us straight.”

“WaIT WHAT?!”

“GRAB THE WHEEL!” You bellow in an authoritative tone. Missy quickly does as commanded allowing you to move your left leg to the windshield.

“Don’t swerve us.” Missy confirms her copy of your command with a gulp and slight nod. The loud bastard on top has almost broken through the sunroof raising the intensity of the moment. You slide the driver's seat back enough to raise your left leg higher to gain more momentum when pulling back, readying the deadly blade in front of you then shooting your leg forward to break the windshield out. Glass flys over the dash causing Missy to cover her eyes on instinct, swerving the car enough to send you back into the seat, left foot falling to the floor as she moves you back to the centre of the road. Fixing your grip on the knife you jump forward in your seat meeting your undead assailant half way while hooking your arm around the steering wheel and Missy, blade piercing into the side of its head before ripping it out to allow the decomposing body to slide off the hood. With thing one dealt with, your right hand returns the knife to its easily accessible holster, the left taking back control of the wheel from the ever helpful Missy Moreno. In a flash before her eyes you use the pistol on your hip to unload its clip through the roof, never taking your eyes off the road to deal with thing two. The groaning and clawing stops after a loud thud is heard and the body goes limp. You harshly swerve the car to the left to knock the corpse off. Missy turns to look in the rear view mirror, the herd's size becoming smaller with the growing distance between the car and them before disappearing completely, the rear lights not reaching far enough. Two bodies laid torn up from the fall at such a high speed left behind as proof of your persistence.

“I got you.” Missy turns herself to face your side profile again, noticing your eyes still refuse to meet hers and your face presents unreadable.

“Nothings going to happen to you while I’m around, ok?” It's spoken sincerely. Because for as long as you’re around nothing will hurt this girl. You’ll protect her with your last breath, do whatever’s necessary to find her father.

“Ok.”

“You should get some rest, I’ll start tracking your dad once daylight hits.” Missy turns and leans against the window watching the trees on the side of the freeway swish past.

“You’re right.”

“And.. I think my dads still inside. I was there for five days alone before you came surviving off stuff I found in cars. I never saw him come back out, alive or…. Dead. Dads still in there.”

“Then we’ll start at headquarters.”

Heroics Headquarters 5 Days Prior….

He knows he should’ve stayed with Missy the moment their hands part and he’s running back into the virus infected building. But if it was her inside, he’d have wanted his teammates to rush back in without any sort of hesitation. So Marcus uses his power to lock Missy in one of the armoured SUVs that retrieved the heroics and their fellow co-workers from their homes just a few short weeks ago, leaving her with his katanas just in case. If he can’t get back to her, he’ll never forgive himself.

The head pounding warning alarm muffles the screams Marcus hears in the distance, throwing him off the direction of where they’re coming from. He follows the trail of victims left behind by Miracle Guy. His teammate. His friend. Who is now an infected flesh eating monster. Marcus blames himself for not being out with Miracle during his search and rescue run for any possible survivors in the city, for not having the man’s back like he deeply feels he should’ve. Taking a left Marcus manoeuvres through the narrow hallway stepping around any body’s while simultaneously trying not to touch the blood soaked walls. A deep satisfied moan has Marcus snapping his head up straight, there just ahead under a red blinking light, he sees Miracle Guy feasting on what remains of his current meal. He knows what he has to do but he can’t. He won’t. Closing his eyes Marcus inhales slowly through his nose, putting his hand in front of himself at chest height, as he exhales out his mouth Marcus manipulates the surrounding metal to cage Miracle Guy into a straight jacket of sorts. Now able to safely grab hold of him Marcus drags Miracle Guy who fights him the whole damn way, guess some things never change, to one of the undestructable prison cells used to hold them during the junior heroics take over mission last year. A blood chilling scream shakes Marcus out of his thoughts just as he’s securing the door to the prison cell locked and shut properly.

“Help me!”

“Please help us!” Marcus shoots into action sprinting towards the main entrance where the cries for help travel from. The gruesome scene unfolding ahead of the man makes him pause. How am I going to get back to Missy? Marcus stands in a fighting position, shoulders shrinking inward, chest rising and falling rapidly. A herd of infected guards gather in front of the large glass main entrance doors, limbs, torsos and pools of bloody guts lay at their feet. Mrs. Vox releases a floor shaking battle call alerts her fellow undead associates of Marcus' presence from her spot crouching on the stairway, presumably the two women who’d called out for help laid ripped apart under her. Turning back around Marcus heads to his office, the security lock down protocol should be enough to put distance between himself and the ever hungry monsters now chasing him. Just as he makes it to the light oak door a biter comes at Marcus who grabs it by the neck slamming it’s head into the doorframe turning his own away from the murderous act. Once back inside Marcus commences an office lock down, shielding anything from getting inside. Finally having a chance to pause and take a minute to process the entire Heroics survival bunker being overrun and now separated from his daughter, Marcus puts his face in his large blood soaked hands and falls to his knees. Anyone who’d made it out is already heading as far away as possible, the infected have taken over headquarters and the survival bunker below ground. In order to make it to Missy in one piece he’ll have to wait for the chaos outside to calm down, wait for the infected to move about the building away from the exits and clear the hallways for him. Leaving Missy alone and vulnerable outside until that happens and risking the herd in the lobby breaking out rushing the parking lot towards her. Sobbing into his hands on his office floor all alone, Marcus Moreno knows he should’ve stayed with his daughter.

The morning sun rises over Heroics headquarters, an array of oranges reflecting off the trolly bridge as you and Missy sit parked admiring the view. Pointing at the end of the bridge, you speak up.

“You see up ahead there?”

“You mean those things walking around?” Missy squints trying to get a better look at what you’re pointing out.

“Yup. From what I can count at this distance there looks to be about 5, which means they’re gathering, there’ll be more in the building. I'm guessing these guys had found a way out. Broken window or wall maybe.”

“Cause of the guard outfits?”

“Smart girl.” Smart ass. Smirking Missy’s way before opening the car door stepping out.

“We’ll have to keep an eye and an ear out at all times, survey the place. If you didn’t see your dad come back out he might still be inside.”

“Got it.” Nods Missy.

With determination you both step on the trolly bridge to cross in hopes of finding Marcus Moreno. Unbeknownst to either of you, said man was also readying himself, prepared to fight his way back to get his little girl.

Part 3 Marcus and reader will finally meet!!

I hope y’all enjoyed it. I'm just beginning to write and still very much learning, any feedback is so greatly appreciated!!🤍🤍

#pedro pascal #marcus moreno x reader #marcus moreno #we can be heroes #pedro pascal x reader

[not-close-to-straight]

More Than Words (Nine)

Here is the promised Fluff, Relationship Development, Unbearable Softness, Literally Ridiculous Heart Eyes.3 seconds of Romantic Foreshadowing, AND THEN SOMETHING TERRIBLE

Enjoy! And don’t forget to comment! (or scream, whatever!)

MTW MASTERLIST HERE

*************

After that first snowfall, winter settled over Haven and the surrounding hills in a heavy blanket of white, piling high in drifts against outer walls and doors, layering deep between trees and building up at the edges of iced ponds, turning fields into arctic expanses marred only by the steps of the animals willing to brave the cold. 

The snow brought a hush along with it, and all of Haven was still and quiet. Bird song was muffled and the babble of the river sluggish and nearly silenced. The children bundled up to play and even their shrieks of excitement were muted, absorbed by the fluffy pieces that fell slowly, steadily, for days on end. 

At the cabin in the mountains, all was quiet as well. Bea and Arthur tromped through the snow and huffed at the powder, the goat high stepped around the flakes as if highly annoyed but didn’t so much as bleat at the mess, and after chores were done and the animals were warm inside their stalls, Peter and Wade sat by the fire and waited out the blizzard together.

Peter spent most of the days organizing his writings, filling in the margins of his notebook and expanding on some of his earlier ideas. The articles he’d saved about Haven were paper clipped at the back cover along with the questions he’d never gotten to ask Cable, and the Omega smiled a little as he folded it all into smaller squares and tucked them deep at the bottom of his backpack. 

“What’s the smile for, sweetheart?” Wade was passing by with a load of firewood, but he stopped long enough to kiss his Omega, showing off just a hint of that jaw dropping strength by holding all the logs in one arm so he could sweep his free hand through Peter’s hair and down over his cheek. “Find something good in that mysterious notebook of yours?”

“Is my notebook mysterious, Alpha?” Peter scrunched his nose at his mate and Wade bent to kiss him again. “You mean to say you’ve never once peeked in it while I was sleeping and read all my notes?” 

“If by ‘notes’ you mean chicken scratch?” Wade set the wood down by the fire and wiped his palms down his trousers. “No Pete, I’ve never tried to read your chicken scratch. That’s your stuff, none of my business.”  

“My writing is not--” Peter looked down at the scribbles, squinted and tilted his head to try and read it. “Alright yeah, my writing is pretty bad. But really? Not even once? I write all the time, aren’t you a little bit curious about it? I mean, you’ve never even asked me what’s in my backpack.” 

“Yeah, well you never asked me what was in my root cellar.” The Alpha scooped Peter up off the chair and took his place on the cushions, settling his mate onto his lap. “Fair’s fair right? I don’t ask about your things, you don’t ask about mine.” 

“I have a literal notebook full of all the questions I’ve asked about your things.” Peter gave the notebook an emphatic tap. “Your argument is invalid. Also, I never asked about the root cellar because I didn’t know it existed and once I did know it existed, I found out absolutely nothing interesting. No questions needed.” 

“Seems rude.” Wade slouched down in the chair and the Omega immediately moved to follow him, Peter rearranging his limbs and shifting his weight back into the Alpha’s chest. “Extra food storage is very interesting.” 

“It’s definitely not.” 

“Fine.” Wade notched his nose into the hollow of Peter’s throat, moved the collar of Peter’s shirt aside so he could dot a kiss on the beautifully clear skin. “Food storage isn’t interesting. What’s in your backpack that I should be so curious about?” 

“Well there’s medicine.” Peter pointed out. “Ibuprofen helps with headaches and breaks fevers and I dunno if your healing factor takes care of that sort of thing, but I’ve got meds in case it doesn’t. I have my extra clothes--” 

“I’ve seen your extra clothes, Pete. Not interesting.” 

“--ugh, fine. I’ve got my digital recorder and my phone that doesn’t work anymore but is still mildly interesting, I’ve got a pile of pens, assorted toiletries, probably some dubiously fresh gum and--” 

Peter’s mouth snapped shut, color rising in his cheeks. “--Annnnd that’s about it.” 

He wasn’t necessarily lying, that was about everything in his backpack… ‘about’ being the operative word there. 

The Omega had one other thing in his backpack, something he’d bought in town and hurried to hide, then managed to forget about completely in the rush to get the cabin set up for winter. 

It had been a last minute purchase, one Peter hadn’t intended to make in the slightest but as he’d wandered through Mr. Lee’s shop that last morning in town, a bolt of lace in the old shop keep’s window had caught his eye and Peter had… lingered. 

Mr. Lee must be at least partially omniscient because had Peter stopped to look at the lace and no more than a split second later the aging Alpha hurried over to take his arm, talking a hundred miles a minute about how pretty Omega’s needed soft things to wear and how the best way to catch an Alpha’s attention was to wear something only semi sheer. He’d insisted half the excitement of undressing a mate was in the peek of skin and the feel of something satin beneath grasping fingers and before Peter could even take a full breath, Mr. Lee had handed him a very delicate, very tiny pair of lace shorts and waited with bushy eyebrows raised for Peter to make a decision.  

It had been an easy decision, or at least it had seemed easy at the time, but once Peter was holding the paper wrapped package and realizing the next step was to actual wear the shorties for his Alpha…

… well that didn’t seem very easy at all. 

Into the bottom of Peter’s backpack the package had gone, stuffed away and forgotten in the rush of the last few weeks until this exact moment. 

“Pete?” Wade jostled the Omega when Peter went quiet. “What happened, where’d you go?” 

“Nowhere.” A kiss was a surefire way to distract Wade from any more questions, so Peter wriggled around in his mate’s lap and planted a long kiss on the Alpha’s lips. “Would you like some coffee?” 

“Ummm….” Wade was dazed from the kiss and Peter laughed quietly. “Yes. Coffee is a thing I like. Yep.” 

“I’ll be right back then.” Lace shorties pushed firmly from mind before his scent gave away his thoughts, Peter hummed on his way to the stove to boil some water. “Alpha my Alpha-- oh!” 

He startled when Wade came up behind him, heavily muscled arms winding like steel around his waist, the Alpha already rumbling in Peter’s ear as he nuzzled close. “Wade? What is it?” 

“I dunno what you were thinking about a minute ago.” A scrape of fangs over Peter’s pulse made his knees weak. “But you should come to bed and tell me all about it.” 

“Come to bed.” Peter tried for a laugh, but it ended up more of a wheeze as Wade’s fingers spread out across his stomach and then swept downwards. “It’s the middle of the afternoon, Alpha. What are we going to do in bed in the middle of the day?” 

“I just wanna lay with you while you keep scenting so sweet.” Anyone else would have taken the chance to propose intimacy, to hint towards shedding clothes and tangling limbs when Peter asked what there was to do in bed, but it didn’t even occur to Wade to make such a suggestion. Kissing and holding each other was enough for right now and when the Alpha said he wanted to lay with Peter and scent him, he meant it. 

“I thought you wanted coffee.” Peter tipped his head to the side so Wade would keep scenting him. “Besides, we have to go out and re-clear a path to the barn, remember?” 

“Does this mean you aren’t going to tell me whatever it was that made you spike so sweet a minute ago?” Wade grumbled in faux annoyance. “What’s the point of being trapped inside a cabin with a pretty Omega if he won’t tell me all his sexy thoughts?” 

“I was thinking about Mr. Lee.” Peter said flatly and Wade let go of him immediately. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” 

“Yikes, Pete.” the Alpha made a show of shuddering. “Don’t ever tell me your sexy thoughts again.”

Peter snorted a laugh and jerked his thumb towards the shovel leaning by the door. “Get to shoveling, Alpha. I’ll put some coffee in a thermos and bring it out for you.” 

“Fine fine fine.” A quick kiss and Wade went to button into his heavy jacket. “I’ll leave you and your thoughts about Mr. Lee alone.” 

Peter only grinned and measured out the coffee grounds. 

If only his Alpha knew what his sexy thoughts were really about. 

***************

***************

“I want to know everything about trapping.” 

Wade looked up from his whittling when Peter plopped down on the other chair, notebook in one hand, pen held high in the other.

“What’s that now, Pete?” 

“I want to know everything about trapping.” Peter repeated. “You said you are going out in the morning to lay your lines and I want to know everything. How do you when the right time is to lay lines? Why do you call them lines and not traps? What are you catching and is it a humane practice? Am I going to have to eat little animals you catch? What about the fur, what sort of work does that take to clean it and prepare it? What about the hides? Are hides and fur the same thing?” 

Wade blinked at his mate a few times, then went back to working on his project. “Christ, Omega. How does one person have so many damn questions?” 

“I have a list.” Peter turned his notebook around so Wade could see. “And trapping like this isn’t something I think exists in my timeline anymore, or at least not that I’ve heard of, definitely not outside of like... Nome, or something.” 

“Where?” 

“Never mind.” Peter waved him off. “We all learn in history classes about how the fur trade led to pretty intense conflicts and how the Hudson’s Bay Company had such a stranglehold on this entire region. Do you deal with them at all? Is that still a thing or is this after the HBC had to give up so much of their land to the actual governments?” 

“Christ.” Wade repeated. “Um alright. We don’t deal with the HBC. Haven tries to stay off the map in general, so when we bring our furs down to the village, they get taken to the bigger cities and sold over there. We get our money straight away and then the furs are gone so no one has any reason to come looking this way. I don’t bring in a whole lotta income doing it, no one really does. When you’re half wild like Logan is, or your mutation is closer to animals like Clint it's sorta difficult to sit there and kill things all season.”

“So you don’t lay--” Peter checked his notes. “--lines all winter long? Just a few?” 

“Fur trade isn’t as busy as it used to be.” Wade turned the piece of wood over in his hands and started carving at another side. “Even if I wanted to trap all winter, there’s no reason to. No demand. I do a little pest and predator control to keep the nasty ones away from the cabin, but I try to keep it to a minimum.” 

“You won’t have to eat the critters, that’s why we have Soup and Dumpling, remember?.” Wade smiled a little. “But rabbit makes good stew, you’d be missing out.” 

“I doubt it.” Peter put his notebook down and chewed at his bottom lip for a moment. “I admit I was feeling a little conflicted about it, about you trapping I mean. The history books make it seem like fur traders didn’t care what they did to the land or which species they nearly ran to extinction. That’s not the case at all, is it?” 

“It’s the case for a lot of people out there.” The Alpha disagreed. “There are always people who will use the land for whatever the hell they want without thought to how they leave it, but there’s more of us who only take what we need to survive. Suppose we don’t make for fascinating passages in the history books, though.” 

“No, I suppose not.” Peter really had been keyed up to be defensive and maybe even angry that his Alpha engaged in those sort of land ruining, species ending practices but of course-- of course Wade wasn’t the stereotype Peter had always heard about. His mate was never the stereotype, not ever, and Peter wondered if he’d ever stop being surprised by it. 

“Tell me what you’re making, Alpha.” Setting the notebook aside entirely, Peter left his chair and moved to perch on the arm rest of Wade’s chair. “Is that a toy, are you making a train?” 

“Trying to make a train.” Wade held up the roughly shaped piece. “Still needs some work, but the good part of being stuck inside all winter is having lots of time to work on it, right?” 

“Why are you making a train, though?” 

“For the kids.” Wade said simply, as if it explained anything at all. When Peter just looked at him, the Alpha clarified, “I make toys for the kids in Haven. Mr. Lee always gives out toys at Christmas but me and some of the others that live in the mountains-- when we come down the hill, we bring toys too.” 

“You spend all winter making toys for children.” Peter repeated. “Really?” 

“What else am I supposed to do with my time?” Wade shrugged and shaved off a thin curl of wood, fashioning round wheels for the toy train. “By the way, I sorta love that you were ready to get mad about trapping, Pete.” 

“Why’s that?” Peter watched in fascination as the wheels began to take shape. “You like being yelled at by your Omega?” 

“I like when you call yourself ‘my Omega’.” Wade’s fangs glinted in the firelight as he smiled. “But I love that you care so much about a bunch of different things. In the beginning you talked about going vegan because you didn’t realize where your food came from. Now you fuss every day until I double check that the animals are warm enough in the weather. You were worried about me hunting cos you have a hard time with it, and now you were ready to yell at me about trapping. You sure do ask a bunch of questions, but I’m telling you, I love that you care so much about these things. You’re sweet, my Omega. A good soul.”

“...I wasn’t going to yell at you about trapping.” Peter denied slowly. “And I dunno if I’m a good soul or not but--” 

“You’re a good soul, Pete.” Wade interrupted. “And you were definitely going to yell at me for trapping.” 

“I’m sorry about that. Sometimes it’s hard for me to reconcile this life with what I knew, or what I thought I knew, from before.” the Omega said quietly. “I um-- I did so much research about Haven and this time period and any people I could track down in this part of the state but reality is so different. I keep realizing I know exactly nothing about anything and I want to know--” he made a vague gesture. “Everything. I want to know all of it.” 

“So what you’re saying is, I should have bought you two notebooks.” 

“I’m saying, I’d very much like to sit here all night and watch you make toys for the kiddos because I think it’s amazing.” Peter waited until Wade paused in his carving, then slid into his mate’s lap and curled close, relaxing into the circle of the Alpha’s arm and very much enjoying the slight flex of muscle at his side as Wade continued working. “I think you’re amazing, Alpha.” 

They sat in silence for a long time, Wade working steadily to form a child’s toy from an unremarkable chunk of wood, Peter content to listen to his Alpha’s heartbeat and watch the flames behind the grate. 

Every once in a while Peter would shift up for a quick kiss or run his fingers along the scars on Wade’s arm, turn his nose into Wade’s shoulder and purr when the Alpha’s cedar scent swelled with happiness. Other times Wade would pause in his carving to press lightly at his mate’s side and rub at Peter’s leg or tangle in his thick hair for a few seconds before going back to work, rumbling in response to every sweet noise the Omega made. 

He knew the moment Peter slipped under, the exact second Peter inhaled fully conscious and exhaled into that gorgeous in between where everything was hazy and slow. Every last bit of tension drained from Peter’s body, even the unnoticed tension that came from simply holding himself upright. It flowed out of of the Omega along with a soul deep sigh, Peter’s head falling back onto Wade’s chest, his grip at the Alpha’s arms loosening and legs uncrossing as he went pliant. 

Peter ad done this a couple times since their trip to Haven but Wade was always shocked, always humbled and thankful he’d been blessed with a mate so easily overwhelmed just by being together. 

Clint had confided in him once that it took years for Logan to go under for him, that despite their near telepathic bond and the way their mutations were closely linked to nature and therefore to each other, the half feral Omega had taken almost a decade to let go and trust his mate enough to float. 

Yet Peter slipped away with nothing more than Wade’s heartbeat, slid under at the end of a long good night kiss, hazed out gorgeous and easy when they just sat together and felt each other breathe, and Wade would never get enough of it. 

“Where are you, sweetheart?” the Alpha murmured. “You with me?” 

“Mmm, Alpha.” Peter nodded slowly. “I’m with you.” 

“Yeah?” Wade set his project aside and slid both arms around Peter’s waist, one hand low on his Omega’s hips and the other spread over Peter’s heart and inching towards his neck. “You feel me, baby boy?” 

“I feel you, Alpha.” Peter’s breath hitched when Wade’s hand closed with the lightest pressure at his throat. 

He’d always wondered what he would do if a partner ever went this Alpha with him, a hand at his throat to direct his head any which way. An Omega baring their neck to an Alpha was a sign of submission, an Omega allowing an Alpha to open them up into submission was a sign of implicit trust, of unwavering confidence in their mate, a show of faith to allow someone so dangerous where they were so vulnerable. 

Peter had always wondered what he would do if Harry or Johnny or Gwen tried such a thing when they shared his heats but it wasn’t them thumbing over his pulse or keeping him safe and secure on their lap. 

It was Wade, it was his mate and Peter pulled himself free from the drugging lure of his Alpha’s body to whisper again, “I feel you Alpha. Don’t stop.” 

Wade growled into the Omega’s ear, satisfaction drenching his scent and mingling with lazy lavender contentment as he held Peter even closer. “Pretty Omega.” he rumbled and Peter went nearly liquid in his arms. “Pretty perfect thing. You are gorgeous. So beautiful. Mine. All mine, my mate.” 

“My mate…” 

Peter didn’t weigh enough to even register in Wade’s grip but it still took far more of the Alpha’s strength than he’d ever admit to stand up after close to an hour and carry his mate to the bed, far too much effort to pull the blankets up to Peter’s shoulders and hush the quiet complaints from the Omega at not being held anymore. He kissed away a petulantly scrunched nose, tucked the quilts in tighter so Peter wouldn’t be cold and then went back to the fire and picked up his whittling knife again. 

This time Wade wasn’t working on the train or the other toys he’d drawn designs out for. This time the Alpha pulled a beautiful piece of red oak from the pocket of his coat and began working along the inked circular outline, glancing up periodically to make sure his mate was well and truly asleep and not peeking in on his project. 

It had been simple to visit the wood crafters in Haven and procure a beautiful bit of wood for this, simple to request it cut down thin enough for Wade to do the work with nothing more than a few tools and some sand paper. 

This particular project was entirely unnecessary, of course. He and Peter were mates even without spending a bonding heat together, meant to be together with no official ceremony needed. Marriage wasn’t needed between mates, the validity of a bond was never doubted so long as all partners were obviously happy. They didn’t need any sort of symbol beyond an eventual silver mating bite on their necks, but Wade still sat up and worked for another few hours. 

Entirely unnecessary, but oh he couldn't wait to see how Peter looked with a ring on his finger. 

Omega. The Alpha looked up when Peter stirred on the bed, heart clenching in happiness when the pretty Omega rolled over onto his side of the bed and burrowed into his pillow. I’m so glad you’re mine.

****************

****************

Walking the trap lines and collecting the animals inside took Wade almost six hours every morning. He was up before the sun to make coffee and kiss his Omega goodbye and then with a set of snow shoes strapped to his feet and a framed pack rigged with hooks and line to hold animals, the Alpha headed out into the cold. 

Six hours of work, which meant Peter woke up alone and had to start his day without his mate’s steadying presence and help. Wade kept the path to the barn shoveled so Peter could pick his way across the clearing to take care of the animals, and once the Omega was done there, he had to carry wood to the cabin and fill the kindling box so the cabin stayed warm.  He was getting better at building a fire but some days were harder than others and Peter had to rush to pull the splinters from his fingers and to treat any small cuts before his Alpha came home and saw the damage.

The physical labor wasn’t so terrible-- after two months living at the cabin Peter wasn’t even sore after chores, his back didn’t ache after pitching hay and his arms didn’t strain carrying logs. So long as the goat wasn’t terribly obnoxious, he could get through the barn chores within an hour and a half and the worst part was dealing with the miserable cold that seemed to penetrate even a heavy jacket and thick gloves. 

The physical labor wasn’t so terrible. 

What was terrible was the way Wade’s absence turned Peter into a needy, clingy little Omega and good god did Peter hate that. 

Two months wasn’t all that long to know someone, nor was that long enough to be absolutely miserable without their company, or to miss them with a soul deep sort of ache that led to day dreams about intimacy and kisses that ended in skin and sweat and heat. 

Two months wasn’t all that long, and yet Peter had to physically restrain himself from leaping at Wade the moment the Alpha reappeared in their clearing, he had to bite his lip and fold his arms to keep from glomming onto Wade as they ate a late lunch and Wade tried to warm up after half a day outside. 

It took all of Peter’s self control and then some he didn’t even know he had to keep from outright whining when Wade finally got settled and was ready to gather Peter up and hold him for a while. Every kiss ended far too soon, Peter thought he would burn up if he couldn’t lie skin to skin with his Alpha soon, and the last time Wade growled at the end of a kiss, Peter had been instantly, embarrassingly wet. 

Needy, clinging, annoying as hell. 

Peter was not that sort of Omega, had never been that sort of Omega and goddammit he was not about to start now. 

“Remember to keep the fire going.” Wade chugged the rest of his coffee and rinsed his cup out. “Pete, are you listening? This time of year the fire has to be going all the time. We need a good coal bank--”

“-- to maintain an even temperature that can be easily stoked to a real fire in case we need to quickly heat the cabin.” Peter didn’t bother looking up from his book. Pretending to be busy while Wade was getting ready to leave seemed to help with his newly acquired separation anxiety, so the Omega had taken to waking when Wade did and sitting up in bed until the Alpha had gone.

“The kindle box has to stay full, there needs to be a full night’s supply of logs stacked by the door in the off chance we are caught unawares by a snow storm and can’t get to the wood shed.” he finished. “I know, Alpha.” 

“Well yeah, and--” 

“--and I should spend some time twisting hay so if we can’t get more wood, we at least have something to burn besides the furniture.” 

“Pete.” 

“And boil some water to put in the indoor barrel so we have plenty of usable water in case there is a hard freeze.” The Omega turned a page and kept right on reading, mentally counting down from one hundred so his voice was steady when he continued, “And to make sure and sift the hay in the loft so it doesn’t get clumpy and weird, and to leave a little milk in the goat so she can start drying up since it’s difficult to get out and milk her when the winter sets in like this.” 

“Omega.” 

“I know you’re disappointed we didn’t get her bred in Haven, but don’t you think taking care of wee goaties in the middle of winter sounds like a pain in the ass?Maybe we should just get her knocked up in the spring when we can make it down the mountain.” 

“Are you done?” Wade waited with raised eyebrows. “And I’m sorry, did you just say wee goaties?” 

“One of the characters in my book is Scottish.” Peter slouched a little further into the bed and shrugged, all but hiding behind his book. “I think I should start calling little things ‘wee’, it would make me more interesting.” 

Wade narrowed his eyes when he couldn’t see his mate anymore, but let it go so he could ask, “What about if you see cat tracks anywhere around the cabin?” 

“If it’s a wee puss--” Peter barely managed the sentence without laughing. “--then I won’t say anything at all. A track bigger than my palm I should let you know because we aren’t too worried about bobcats but a lynx or a lion hanging around usually means serious trouble. I know, Alpha. We’ve been over all of this at least a hundred times.” 

“And we’re gonna go over it again at least a hundred times.” The Alpha leaned over the bed till he could smoosh a kiss to Peter’s cheek, clicking his tongue coaxingly until his mate turned to give him a proper one. “I just want you to be safe, Pete. That’s all.” 

“I know.” Peter went right back to his book, biting at his tongue in an effort to keep his spiraling emotions under control. “I’ll see you after lunch.” 

“Are you okay, my mate?” Wade hesitated at the front door. “You’ve been distant this week, sorta closed off. You aren’t still made about me trapping, are you?” 

“We already talked about that.” 

“I know we talked about it.” the Alpha maintained. “But you’ve been acting weird anyway. Going to bed before me, not hanging out by the fire for very long. Last week you went all fuzzy on me while I was making that train, now I can’t hardly get my arms around you without you pullin’ away after a minute. What’s going on?” 

“I’m fine.” Peter was lying through his teeth and it was plainly obvious when his scent bumped in guilt. “I promise.” 

“Pete.” Wade pulled his hat off and ran a hand over his bare scalp, rubbing absentmindedly at a scar along where his hair line used to be. “We’re mates. I can read your scent and your body language and all the funny ways your tone changes when you talk. But I can’t read your mind. If somethin’s bugging you, just tell me. Is it the trapping? Are the chores too much for you? Do you need help? What is it?” 

Peter pursed his lips and clenched his fingers into the quilts. “Alpha, I promise I’m--” 

“Talk to me, Omega. Don’t shut me out.” 

“Wade, it’s nothing--” 

“--obviously it is--” 

“I miss you!” Peter nearly shouted and the Alpha jerked in surprise. “There! I said! I miss you when you’re gone half the day and it’s so stupid because I am not a needy Omega. I am not clingy and I am not overly emotional but I’m so tired of waking up alone in this bed that I’ve started waking up early just so I can see you leave! And when you come back, I have to practically tie myself down so I don’t jump you!” 

“Oh sweetheart--” 

“No no no, stop.” Peter pulled the blankets up to his chest and shook his head. “Stop. I know I’m being ridiculous, okay? I know this is probably my entire-- my entire--” another shake of his head, and Peter tapped at his chest. “--my entire soul panicking because you and I aren’t bonded yet and we’re supposed to be. You and I talked about this already, we are adults who are well aware we need to have boundaries and I’m fine with that.”

“And I know we’ve only been together two months but that doesn’t mean that my biology isn’t freaking out because my mate is suddenly spending hours and hours away from me and shit, Alpha we don’t like to talk about it, but we both know our time could be very limited and sometimes I freak out about that stuff too!” 

The Omega closed his eyes and forced a breath out between pursed lips. “I know this is insane so I am trying very hard to not let my own issues push our enough, alright? That means I need some self imposed space and the chance to get used to you not being around all the time and to control my-- my sort of weird amount of horny. If this was my timeline, we’d both go away to work every single day and it would be fine. I’ve just gotten used to you being with me every minute of the last few months and I need to take a step back and gather myself. It’s fine. I’m fine. We are just fine.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“We are just fine.” Peter repeated, and then softer, “And I’m sorry for keeping it from you, Alpha. I just didn't want you to worry, or make extra demands on your time because I’m feeling needy. You’re so tired when you come home now and I didn’t want to add to that.” 

Wade was quiet for a moment, cataloging the misery flickering across his mate’s face, the sadness in the deep brown eyes, the way the Omega’s lavender and honeysuckle aroma was dulled from his outburst. 

“You think I don’t miss you, Pete?” he finally asked and Peter looked up with a small frown. “You think it doesn’t about kill me to leave you here every morning and not see you again until closer to dinner time? I’ve never hating walking my trap line more than I do this last week, and I’ve never been happier to come back home.” 

“...oh?” 

“You’re worried about pushing our enough cos you’re being needy.” The Alpha put his gloves down and came back to the bed, tugging at Peter’s hand until he could pull his mate to the side of the mattress and up onto his knees so they were eye to eye and nose to nose. “I’m worried about pushing our enough cos you aren’t being needy and I am about fucking desperate for you to need me like I need you.” 

“Alpha.” Relief, brightening Peter’s scent until the Omega was practically glowing with happiness. “Really?” 

“By the way, you’re not the only one feeling weirdly horny.” Wade deadpanned, and Peter blushed.

“It’s fine, Pete.” The Alpha smoothed his rough hands down Peter’s back, down to the narrow hips and over the rise of his Omega’s rear. “You know I love when you’re ridiculous.” 

“Cos you fall for me a little more every time?” 

“That’s exactly right.” 

Their kiss was soft and sweet and slow, Wade ignoring the pressing need to get out and onto his trap lines so he could hold his mate close for a long time, Peter reveling in the feel of his Alpha’s knowing touch and the way Wade rumbled through their embrace as the moment grew lazy and long. 

“Open for me.” Wade murmured and Peter’s mouth parted immediately, falling open so the Alpha could lick past his lips and slide slick along his tongue. “That’s good, baby boy c’mere, c’mere I’ve missed you.” 

“I missed you too.” It felt good to just admit it and Peter laughed breathlessly into their next kiss, dragged his hands over the rock hard muscle in the Alpha’s back and shoulders to get down to the tapered waist and then lower still to get his fingers into the meat of Wade’s ass. “I’m so glad you need me to be needy, Alpha.” 

“I will always need you to be needy for me.” A sharp scrape of fangs at Peter’s bottom lip and Wade groaned when Peter came back with a less sharp but just as purposeful bite in return. “Always, my mate. Need me. Please.” 

“Mmmm, I need you.” Peter bit down harder this time, digging his blunt teeth into his mate’s lip and purring in delight when the sting made his Alpha clutch him up tight. “My mate. I won’t keep myself away from you anymore. Be prepared for a stupid amount of cuddles when you get home tonight.” 

“Consider me prepared.” Wade cut their next kiss shorter, then pulled away altogether to sweep his mouth along Peter’s jaw and down the Omega’s neck to the tender skin over his mate’s bonding spot. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.” 

“I’m going to hold you to it.” Peter already looked better after a few moments of physical affection, his eyes sparkling and a sweet flush in his cheeks. “Hurry?” 

“I’ll hurry.” Wade peeled himself away from Peter, but held onto the Omega’s hand until Peter had dove back under the covers and was warm again. “See you soon, Omega.” 

“Soon, Alpha.” Peter echoed, and Wade headed for the door. “Oh. Wade?” 

“Yeah, Pete?” 

“I’ve been working on my growl.” Peter cleared his throat, then offered the Alpha a far too adorable, “Grrrrr.” that didn’t sound at all fearsome and sounded more like a purr that got carried away. “Um… how’s that?” 

“The sweetest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.” Wade fought to keep a smile from his face. “My god, you’re cute Pete.” 

“It’s not cute.” Peter narrowed his eyes at his mate and tried again. “Grrrr. I’m taking your advice and getting vicious with the goat. She tried to headbutt me again yesterday and I am tired of it. Grrrrr.” 

“Oh my god.” For the second time that morning, Wade abandoned his plans to get to his lines and threw himself back on the bed, clambering up the mattress until he could pin Peter to the pillows and kiss him Omega speechless. “You are adorable.” 

“No!” Peter protested, even as he pulled Wade down for another kiss. “It’s not adorable! It’s vicious!” 

“Yeah, sure.” Wade sucked a bruise onto the hinge of Peter’s jaw, worked his hands beneath the blankets and then beneath the Omega’s shirt to get to skin. “Your pretend growl is fuckin’ vicious. Do it again for me.” 

“Damn you!” Peter growled in earnest this time, as deep as he could manage and accompanied with a bite hard enough to split the Alpha’s lip and taste blood. “There, how’s that for a pretend--eep!”

He shrieked a little when Wade was suddenly snarling, the Alpha gone from lax to solid on top of him, every line in the massive body tense, eyes startingly red and muscles straining with the effort of holding himself still. Wade’s fangs were bared, the curved edges sharp and drawing blood when he ran his tongue over the points and Peter only managed a whimper before the Alpha leaned in close and dangerous to bite at the base of Peter’s neck. 

“...Alpha?”  

“My mate.” Nearly subsonic, vibrating between their bodies and shuddering into Peter’s core as the fangs dug deeper into his throat, long fingers curling around the Omega’s neck and holding him still. “Again.” 

Peter wrapped both hands around Wade’s wrist, holding on tight but without an ounce of fear even as the Alpha’s breath staggered choppy and uneven. “My mate.” he purred soft and sweet and consoling first, waiting until Wade relaxed a bare fraction. Then Peter shifted up until his mouth could rest at the Alpha’s ear and he growled as best he could, biting down into Wade’s earlobe. “Mine.” 

“Omega.” Wade sounded all of three seconds from losing himself, but Peter didn’t move away, didn’t turn his head and didn’t hardly breathe. There was a primal sort of satisfaction in biting and being bit, one Peter hadn’t expected to thrill him clear through his center. 

Alpha. 

Mine. 

“My mate.” he came back for another nip at the Alpha’s neck, left a harder on closer to Wade’s pulse. “Mmmm, I want--” 

“Gotta find some snow to shove down my pants.” Wade suddenly wrenched away and practically stumbled for the door, tripping over his feet and rubbing at his eyes. “Gotta-- gotta cool down and get my brain back online and--” 

“No no no Alpha, wait--.” 

“Nope. Seriously. Snow down my pants right now.” Wade flung the door open and by the time Peter scrambled out of bed and over to the door to see, his Alpha was lying face down in the snow and groaning like he was dying. 

“Wade. What in the hell are you doing?” 

“I figured I’d start with the face. Down the pants seemed more extreme once I got out here and realized how fucking cold it was.” Wade rolled over and blew out a deep breath. “You okay?” 

“... I think it wouldn’t be terrible if we were both still inside.” Peter plucked at a seam on his sleep pants, shifting uncomfortably when the cold air wound frigid through the thin material, freezing the slick on his thighs. “But yeah, I’m okay. Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine.” Wade stood to his feet and dusted the snow from his clothes. “Look, Pete. I know you’re needy right now and I love that, and I’d apologize for getting carried away but I’m not sorry at all. But we can’t take needy and blow right past all of our ‘enough’ cos I got growly over your bite. This is a conversation we gotta have when I’m not outta my mind wanting you and that’s not--” 

He shook his head. “That’s not right now. So just tell me this, and then I’ll leave. Is this enough? Can you tell that right now or do you need some time to think about it?”

“It’s not-- it’s not enough.” Peter touched the bite marks again, not looking away from his Alpha as he out words what had been swirling through his mind for the past week. “You said there’s a thousand steps between knowing we’re meant to be and actually mating and I’m ready for-- for another step. Or eight. Or a hundred.” 

“Or a hundred.” Wade repeated, hope rolling through his scent. “You think?” 

“Or a hundred.” Peter nodded, folding his arms against the chill. “I keep trying to pace myself based on how long we’ve been together and compare it to the usual speed I’d take a relationship back home, or add it up to a timeline and schedule of how relationships progress. But this isn’t home and this isn’t a usual relationship. You’re my mate, Wade. My mate. And there isn’t a pace we should be keeping or benchmarks we should reach before moving on. The only schedule that matters is how long we wait before officially mating and we aren’t ready for that, right?” 

“Right.” It almost hurt to admit they weren’t ready to bond, but it was more important that they were both honest, so Wade agreed, “Right. Not ready for an actual bond. Getting there though, yeah?” 

“Getting there.” Peter murmured. “But I’m still ready for more that what we’re doing.” 

“A hundred steps more?” Wade pressed. “Cos that’s-- what we were going towards right there on the bed? That’s a lot. That’s a big jump from kissing and you sitting on my lap. I’m ready, Pete. I was ready the night we got home from Haven, I was ready last week when you spaced out on me and were so damn sweet when I put you to bed. I’m ready, but if what we have is enough, I’ll wait. I’d wait forever for you Omega. Just tell me what you want.”  

They stared at each other for a long minute, searching each other’s eyes for answers that weren’t always easy to say out loud, until finally-- 

“I want you to you walk your trap lines.” Peter’s eyes fell to where Wade was still straining against his pants, the abrupt snow bath obviously not doing much for the Alpha’s state. “Because it needs to be done and I need to do my chores and then I want you to hurry home to me so we can--” 

“--figure out our new enough.” Wade finished, and Peter added, “Without our clothes on. I’m afraid I’ll have to insist on that part. No clothes at all. I might actually die if I don’t get you naked immediately.” 

“Omega.” Wade’s laugh was a little pained as he adjusted his trousers, but no less affectionate and wholly longing. “You are ridiculous.” 

“Yeah well you’re the one out here with snow in your pants.” Peter blew his Alpha a kiss. “Looks like we’re both ridiculous and both falling for each other.” 

“I’ll hurry home, my mate.” Wade promised.

“And I’ll be right here waiting.” Peter returned. “Be safe?” 

“Always.” 

**************

**************

Wade was distracted as he worked his trap lines, focused only enough to avoid cutting his own fingers off as he removed the animals from the steel jaw pieces. 

Understandably, his mind was firmly set back at the cabin, on the Omega who would be busy doing chores and then busy waiting for Wade to come home so they could move onto something new. 

The Alpha had nearly been undone this morning, driven to distraction by Peter’s heartfelt admission of neediness and the resulting kiss, smitten with his mate’s little snarl and the teasing bites they’d shared before Peter had-- before he’d--

Wade slowed to a stop beneath a tree, hanging his head and panting in an effort to alleviate the sudden tightness in his pants, his cock hardening over the memory of how Peter had growled and drew blood, the way the Omega had keened over the taste without even realizing. 

Wade had surged forward completely out of control, his fangs out and ready to sink into Peter’s bonding spot before he’d managed to force himself to a stop but his mate-- his gorgeous, perfect mate hadn’t flinched, hadn’t pulled away, hadn’t spiked sour with fear for even a split second. 

Instead Peter had arched closer and growled again, bit at Wade gentler but with no small amount of possessiveness and in every way but verbal that was a yes, that was a yours, that was a mine and a more and a don’t stop--

--in every way but verbal. 

So Wade had thrown himself outside before he did something awful like rush into more just because he’d missed Pete and because they were both obviously struggling with needing to further their connection without moving too fast. 

Two months, Peter had said. Two months was all they’d been together and that seemed too short for the Omega but for Wade it seemed like years. Most soulmates met and were bonded with in a few days, most soulmates couldn’t handle waiting any longer, not to mention most soulmates didn’t see a reason to wait. 

The ever looming limit of their time together had Wade almost crawling out of his skin needing to see his mark on Peter’s neck, but he was willing to wait until his Omega was ready. Until they were both ready. 

It was one thing to call each other mate and acknowledge their bond. 

It was something else for Wade to fuse his soul to another when he thought he’d never stop grieving his first. He didn’t even know when he’d stopped mourning Vanessa but every time he and Peter moved past another enough, Wade thought about his first, about the woman that had been his entire world. 

Their bodies were certainly ready to bond, their biologies all but begging to meld but Wade’s heart wasn’t ready. Not yet. 

And even if he was, Peter still needed time to--

--

--

-- Wade went perfectly still, his focus coming back razor sharp and painfully aware as he stopped breathing so he could listen. 

There was something in the branches above him, something heavy based on the slight creak of branches, something predator judging from the rancid smell of meat clinging to the air around it. 

Wade had been too lost in his thoughts to think about his surroundings, too consumed with the idea of Peter stretched out on his bed to worry about his scent swelling rich and potent and mixing with the smell of the animals in his traps, enough to bring in any predator within a few miles. 

He had been reckless and stupid and now he was in very real danger and Wade tensed his muscles, readied himself to draw his knife and whirl around to at least have a chance at fending off the animal, but he was already too late. 

The Alpha’s frame buckled under a hundred and eighty pounds of muscle and fur, his shout muffled beneath the roar of a hungry cat as it dropped from above, his screams silenced by the snow as claws tore down his back and into his sides and spilled too bright blood onto the ground---

---miles away inside the cabin, Peter was mid brushing his hair when his chest seized up, his heart stuttering behind his ribs and legs giving out in a bolt of pain. 

He screamed as the hurt traveled up his spine and into his head, and just before the Omega passed out he had the horrifying thought that his heart was literally breaking in his chest. 

Something was wrong with his Alpha. 

*******************

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********************

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#ncts fics #spideypool #peter parker #wade wilson #abo dynamics #soulmate au #time travel au #alpha wade wilson #omega peter parker

[muddy-stereo]

Hat Armor

mudsaw

“Phew! I’m beat…” A young boy said as he leaned on his mop, wiping his forehead. He looked up and out the window, the sound of pelting rain grabbing his attention, “Ugh…It’s been raining all day! I hope it’ll stop soon…I don’t exactly…want to fly in the rain…” He looked at the floor, there were a couple of smudges on the floor from patrons entering the shop earlier. The boy sighed “And I’m tired of cleaning up all the mud and water that THEY bring in…” He straightened up and dipped the mop back into the bucket of water, he then lifted the mop and placed it in the wringer and pulled the lever, wringing the mop of all the water. The Boy quickly stood up as he felt a couple of drops of dirty water hit his face “Ugh…wonderful…” he quickly wiped his face with his glove and continued to clean the floor. “Oh man,…it’s gonna feel so good to shower after this!” He picked up the pace and began humming a cheery tune. It had been a busy day, but he always liked working there. It was such a weird shop, with weird customers, who would buy weird things! Mainly potions and spells, they were treated as novelties by some but others would use them seriously, it was strange. His boss was equally as weird but he wasn’t so bad. His face is a bit off putting at first, kind of like being forced to stare at an old man with a lazy eye, but after a while, he grew to accept what he looked like and it no longer bothered him, in fact, it was normal. Besides, he had agreed to hire him in his time of need, even though he had no need for an employee so he didn’t have it in him to scrutinize his boss.

“Chance darling~?” The voice of his boss interrupted his thoughts “Let’s pick up the pace dear! It’s almost time for you to go home!” “Yes, sir Mr. Smiley Sir!” Chance answered back. “Ah, and don’t forget today is payday! Besides your money I’ll let you pick out a potion today for free!” Chance quickly perked up after he heard the last part. “Y-Yes, sir!” He quickly scrambled to clean up the remaining smudges all while grinning really hard to himself. “I can’t believe I forgot that today is payday!” He finally stopped and looked around inspecting his work. “Mwah~! Everything is spic and span!” He turned to the sound of beaded curtains opening, it was his boss Smiley. “All right dear, time to finish up~!” Smiley said as he floated to the front of the shop. “HEY! HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT??” Chance pointed at his boss who was floating a couple of inches from the floor. “Hmm?” Smiley looked to where Chance was pointing “Ah that!” He then proceeded to turn off the lights in and around the shop “Well, I didn’t want to walk on the floor that you just cleaned. So I took a little sip of a flight potion! It’ll wear off eventually!” He then flipped the sign on the door, locked the door and drew the curtains all while floating gracefully through the air. The bottoms of his feet left behind little sparkles that disappeared behind him. He looked back at Chance, his mouth hanging open, he smiled “You…seem surprised…for one who can already fly naturally that is…” Chance snapped out of his trance “Huh? Oh well, I just think it’s really cool! And I can’t really fly naturally….it’s all thanks to my broom!” Smiley gave him a thoughtful look “Your broom huh? Are you really certain about that?” Chance cocked his head and look at him questionably “Huh? What do you mean by that? I’ve always been able to fly because of my broom!” Smiley’s turned and looked away “Yes…of course, you have…” Chance stared at his boss unsure of what he was getting at when he noticed he was starting to fall slowly to the ground “Hey boss! The potion! It’s wearing out!” Smiley quickly snapped out of his thoughts and looked down “Ah! Thank you for that!” He quickly floated back to the beaded curtains “A-anyway, finish up in here and make your way to the back room asap dear!” “Oh uh yes sir!” Chance rolled the bucket to the broom closet and drained all the dirty water into the drainage “I wonder what he was thinking about…” he wrung the mop one last time and placed in the empty bucket. He then locked the broom closet and made his way towards the back room.

Chance stepped through the curtains “Hey boss?” he asked as he looked for Smiley “Over here deary~!” He was at his desk writing the check for Chance. “Annnnd…done!” He dotted the last line on the check and handed it to Chance “Here you are love~!” Chance grabbed the check and looked at it, it was a check for $920. “Hehe! Sweet! Thank you so much, sir!” Smiley then stood up from his desk and headed towards the closet “No problem deary~! Now come with me.” Chance obediently followed Smiley. They stopped at the closet’s entrance, Smiley pulled out a key with a little Calavera on it from his pocket, placed it in the lock releasing it and opened the door. He stepped inside the closet and flipped the switch beside the door, the fluorescent lights turned on one by one illuminating the large closet. Smiley looked back at Chance and smiled, his face was full of amazement and wonder~! He had seen the closet plenty of times but it was always so satisfying to see him so amazed. Even his paychecks could never make him smile that hard. Smiley then gestured with his arm “Well, go ahead~!” Chance literally hopped up and down in place “Hehehe~! Thank you thank you~!” He then darted past Smiley and started looking around the area, looking at all the potions on the cabinets and shelves and so on. Smiley shook his head and chuckled “Take your time dear! But not too long!” He then looked at the clock right outside the closet “I don’t want you going home really late dear~!” “I won’t be long~!” Chance answered back. Smiley then grabbed a seat and set it next to the closet door. He sat down and sighed “What a day…it hasn’t been this busy in a long time…”

“Oh gosh~! What should I get? What I should I get?” Chance said to himself as he glanced all over. His eyes stopped on a clear potion “Okay that was an invisibility potion but I already tried that two weeks ago…” His eyes then settled on a baby blue potion “That’s a shrinking potion! but it…was not such a good idea…I didn’t think mice would be so mean!” He then spotted three potions in a row “Okay…those are a love potion, a sleeping potion, and a luck potion…I could just buy those at a discount…” Chance jumped up and down repeatedly “Ugh! I can’t choose!” He quickly stopped when he felt himself bump into a potion, knocking it off the shelf “Oh nonononono~!” He quickly got it before it could fall to it’s shattering doom “Phew~!” Chance sighed as he placed the potion back in its place.“Okay…I need to be more careful and more studious~!” He then turned and eyed a couple potions, he carefully took the labels in his hand and read the description “‘This potion grants you the ability to float’ This must be what my boss used! But I can already fly so I’m good!” He looked at another potion next to it “'This potion turns you INTO A DRAGON??’ Eesh! I think I’ll pass on that one…” He continued on to the next potion “'This potion allows you to glow in the dark’ Hmm…..That’s silly! But…it might be fun? Maybe some other time…” Chance sighed and leaned back “Hmm….none of these potions are really doing it for me…” He then turned and looked at the adjacent cabinet “Maybe there’s something here…” He scanned the bottles, curiously, none of them had any labels on them what so ever.

“I don’t mean to rush you deary, but it’s getting rather late and I don’t want you going home so late~!” Chance jumped startled after hearing Smiley’s voice “Oh! Uh..okay, sir! Sorry, sir!” He turned back to the bottles with no labels. “So weird…why don’t they have labels…” He finally stopped on a bottle that was glowing with a white-blue light, inside were sparkles that glowed even more brilliantly! “Ohh~! This one is pretty! I wonder what it does…” He stared at it for a good long while, it was so beautiful, he couldn’t describe it’s beauty. “I think I’ll take this one~!”

Chance stepped out of the closet and saw his boss passed out on the chair, he gently shook him awake “Psst! Hey, boss~! I’m done picking out my potion~!” Smiley let out a startled snore “Eh? Wha-?” He looked at Chance who had finally stepped out of the closet, he let out a yawn “Ah~! Chance my dear! Are you all set?” “Yeah, I found a potion! But…” he then showed the potion to Smiley “It has no tag or label…” Smiley took the potion and inspected it “Ah yes! There’s actually an entire section of potions and spells that I have not labeled yet because I have yet to test its effects on any living specimens….” Chance tensed up a little “You mean…you don’t even know what that potion does?” Smiley looked up and saw the worried expression on his face “Oh well, this particular potion that you picked; I do know what it does! It’s the other ones that I have no idea what they do…I must’ve just forgotten to label this one….” Chance breathed a sigh of relief “Okay so what does it do?” Smiley got up and started walking towards the cauldron “This is actually not a potion but rather a spell! It’s a protection spell to be precise!” He then handed the bottle back to Chance as he started digging out equipment next to the cauldron. Chance opened the bottle and sniffed it. “Mmm~! It smells really pleasant!” He then leaned his head back and took a sip of the potion. Smiley continued rummaging through the cabinets “Yes it certainly smells nice! Just be sure not drink any, it’s not a consumable!” Chance eye’s widened, he quickly spit the potion back into the bottle. “Ugh….so you can’t drink it?” Chance said with his tongue hanging out. “No, It is a spell, it’s meant to be cast, not consumed.” Chance eyed the bottle questionably “So…it’s a protection spell….it should go on my body right?” Smiley stood up wearing a pair of massive rubber gloves while holding some blacksmith tongs “Actually….this spell is for your clothing…” Chance cocked his head “My clothes? How would that help? Why would I want to protect my clothes?” Smiley handed him a pair of welding goggles “Go fetch your hat and I’ll demonstrate!” Chance took the goggles and placed them on his head “My hat? Uh..okay..”

Chance quickly went back to the front of the shop and picked up his hat hanging from a hat rack, he quickly grabbed his broom while he was at it and made his way back to the back room. Smiley was fixing a welding mask to his head. “Tell me Chance, do you like video games?” Chance smiled “You bet I do!” Smiley chuckled “Well, you know how in some games you can buy and equip your character with various clothing or armor and it will grant the character numerous effects? Like one piece of equipment can increase defense while another piece of equipment can grant fire immunity? And so on and so forth!” Chance nodded at everything “Yeah! yeah! I do that all the time in some games!” “Well, this potion is the same! It goes on your clothing and it will grant you protection!” Smiley reached out with his hand “The bottle please!” Chance handed him the bottle “All right! Goggles on! This is very bright!” Chance quickly placed the goggles over his eyes while Smiley lowered his mask. He then grabbed the bottle with the tongs, he then slowly poured the spell bottle in the cauldron. The cauldron let out an intense white light, the goggles weren’t enough to truly block out the light as he shielded his face. He slowly removed his hands from his face and looked around, everything was whitewashed. There was not a hint of color anywhere. Everything was washed in a white light! Smiley placed the empty bottle down “Chance! Your hat! It’s going in there!” Chance snapped out of his thoughts “Huh? What? Will it be okay?” Chance asked a little worried. “Of course it will! But we have to hurry!” “Uhh..okay…” Chance handed him the hat. Smiley grabbed with the tongs and positioned it over the cauldron “All right, be ready it’s going to flash again!” “Okay!” Smiley then slowly inserted the hat into the cauldron the solution flashed and sparked with a powerful white light. Chance once again had to shield his eyes as the goggles were not enough to stop the blinding light. He slowly opened his eyes and squinted as much as he could past the light. The solution in the cauldron started to go down as it was steadily being absorbed by the hat itself. Finally, the bright light began to diminish “All right you can take off your goggles now!” Chance eagerly took off his goggles and peeked into the cauldron. Smiley then slowly pulled out his hat, it was glowing like a hot iron over fire except it was completely white and glowing brightly! Smiley then placed the hat into a separate cauldron of water. The hat let out steam and smoke and white brilliant sparks. Chance bit his nails a little, worried about his hat. Smiley finally pulled it out of the water and set the glowing hat on a nearby table. Smiley then removed his mask

“Good job Chance~!” Chance wasn’t too sure what he was being complimented on but it didn’t matter. He stared at his glowing hat. Over time the hat ceased glowing and it looked as ordinary as ever like it was never dipped into a magical cauldron. Chance turned to Smiley “Uh..may I?” Smiley nodded “You may!” Chance quickly grabbed the hat and placed it on his head, it felt the same as ever. “It doesn’t feel any different…” Smiley put the tongs and gloves away “Really? Well, why don’t you step outside and see?” Chance looked at Smiley “Outside? Really?” Smiley nodded. Chance opened the back door but quickly stopped when he saw the rain. “Aw man, it’s still raining! Do you have an umbrella?” Smiley shook his head “There is no need! Just step outside and see!” Chance sighed and stepped outside as he closed his eyes and braced himself for the droplets of rain to hit him. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at his arms “Did it stop raining?” He then looked up as he heard little splashes of water hit something invisible on top of him. “Whoa! What? What’s this?” Smiley chuckled from the door “That’s the protection spell working it’s magic!” Chance looked around him in awe. His hat was creating an invisible barrier bubble. The only way you could tell it was there was because of the rain droplets hitting it on the outside. “Whoa! This is so cool!” Chance then grabbed his hat “I wonder…” He then removed his hat and quickly regretted as the barrier disappeared and he was pelted with the cold rain. “Ah!” He quickly placed the hat back on and barrier reappeared “Wow…this is amazing!” Smiley chuckled once again “Well I’m glad you like it!” Chance then turned back to smiley, the barrier turning along with him “So…what else does it protect against?” Smiley placed a hand on his chin “Well….remember how I said that most of those spells in the closet don’t have labels because I don’t know their effects?” Chance nodded “Well it’s the same with the protection spell. It’s a protection spell at face value but I don’t know to what extent it will protect you…I guess you’ll have to test it for me!” Chance frowned at him “So you want me to put myself in danger?” “ I didn’t say that! Just….if you ever feel like you’re in danger….put your hat on! Think of it as… a good luck charm that will protect you wherever you go!” Chance looked down a bit “Yeah I guess…” Smiley then extended his hand “I can always remove the spell if you don’t like it…” Chance then straightened up and grabbed his hat “Uh no! It’s okay! I really do like this! It’s just…I can’t shake the feeling that all of a sudden I am in danger….” Smiley looked up at the sky “I understand…if you want…I can escort you home at least.” Chance perked up again “Is it that late already?? I’m so sorry….” Smiley then handed him his broom and began locking the door behind him. “It’s all right, it’s no trouble.” He then grabbed the small potion bottle from his necklace, popped it open, and drank it whole. He then began to float off the ground. “Are you quite ready?” Chance hopped on his broom “Ready! I’ll race you!” He then took off at high speed into the stormy night sky. “You’re on!” Smiley then took after him hot on his tail.

Chance gently landed on his front door and Smiley landed right behind him. He then turned to Smiley. “Well, thanks for taking me home!” “Not a problem dear~! I’ll see you in two days so have a good weekend!” Smiley said as he turned to leave “Ah wait!” Chance quickly went over to him, gave him a tight hug, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek! “Thank you so much!” Smiley’s eyes widened, he returned the hug and blushed “You’re welcome…now go on get inside~!” Chance giggled and skipped inside “Bye!” Chance said as he closed the door behind him. Smiley waved, he then turned around and took off flying. He placed his hand over his cheek where Chance had kissed him and blushed. “Good kid! He just needs to ask better questions…”

-End-

#mudsaw here #smiley #chance #written

[someplace-that-is-else]

States of Grief: A Writer’s Goal for Entering 2019 Part the Second

I admit…I had been putting it off.

 It was the winding down of the holiday season. I had set a few things in motion. One of those things was I had books ordered for my Darkened Soul: Witch’s Abyss giveaway. Another one of those things was a new laptop.

 As I mentioned in my last blog (‘You Think You Know…What’s to Come…’: A Writer’s Goal for Entering 2019- http://someplace-that-is-else.tumblr.com/post/182330195413/you-think-you-knowwhats-to-come-a), my old laptop appeared to be done. So…I decided to head back to status quo. There were things that I needed for that. One of those things…was a TOSHIBA laptop.

 Annnnd it arrived. I was super excited. Now if I only had time to open it. LOL!!!

 In any case, I was ready. Once it was ready, I could keep on with my plans. After all, I had books to self-publish.

 It was then that I noticed it.

 I couldn’t find my recent flash drive.

 Ugh.

 DENIAL

 I ignored it at first.

 It was pretty easy to do. While the holiday season was winding down, there was still work for me to do. I really wanted to get back to my normal routine. My routine that involved me getting up, heading to work, heading to the gym, heading to work, and then home. If I was lucky, there would be time to write.

 It was then that I thought about my writing. After all I had been hoping by the end of 2018 to have Darkened Soul: The Breaking of Circles and Book 3 in my Darkened series out. And we knew how 2018 ended.

 My gym routine was quite easy to get back to. At first, it was not. Between my work schedules, the amount of time I would use for the gym…which was located in a separate location from where I lived or my work places…it could not be worked. But where there was a will, there was a way they said. I had considered during December having to change my gym schedule around. While I had been known to work out from home when need be, I would also been expanding what I did. I managed to take up jogging downtown and other general leg exercises. Yes, I am not a fan of Leg Day. LOL!!! So after debating it, I started to slowly move my gym time to really early morning. I was not at all a morning person, but if I was committed to my gym time as I claimed to be, that appeared to be the only time I could make it over there to the gym.

 Some weeks I made it. Other weeks I was just too tired from the shenanigans over at one of my jobs to get there. In those cases, I would have to adjust my schedules accordingly. So thankfully, gym routine was on the up and up. And if I could do that for my gym routine, surely I could do that for my writing time, right?

 I saw something on television. I had to binge watch Game of Thrones. I had to head to work. I would be tired from work. I noticed that I would do anything to not search for my flash drive.

 There was one day I was getting ready for work. I was always a multitasker in the morning. Part of it was to be able to get that good ole coffee to kick in. Part of it was my Gemini nature. In any case, I was reading, ironing, and cleaning a bit at a time. It was then when I saw it.

 No, not the flash drive. A few days ago, I was in a rush to get to work and knocked a thing of tape under my bed. I figured that I would remember it when I was less busy. However, I saw it along with one of my many name tags. I frowned at that.

 How had that name tag gotten under my bed? That far under my bed? When?

 And…I hoped. I hoped that that was a sign. A sign that maybe my flash drive was under my bed or somewhere I would find it in my room.

 So was it hope…or just denial?

 ANGER

 So it was time.

 It was time to get back to writing. First up…I had to work on my blog.

 I had managed before the end of the year to become more frequent. I used to be so frequent when I started out. Like any writer, it was so simple. All one had to do was make oneself interested. If you make yourself interested, others will be interested. If you built it, they will come.

 So I alternated. One blog would be about my writing progress and/or process. The next blog would be about something pop culture related. The next one was about my writing progress/process. And vice versa. Somewhere in there, there would updates on what I’m writing in that moment. Not to mention gifs and pictures. In a matter of time, I had a much-needed online presence for my blog. And that was awesome.

 Then December slowed that down.

 So here I was. Back at it again. This week it was working on a writing blog. It started slow. Once I made connections to Buffy the Vampire Slayer…it all was good to go. While I did not have my flash drive, I still had room on my old one enough that I could work on a blog. For that I was grateful.

 Then…blog done. Blog posted. My mind immediately started to wonder what to do next.

 But…another thought occurred to me. I had nothing to work on in between blogs. Usually that would be my books. But…no flash drive. So…what to do?

 First, I tried to retrace my steps. The last time I used my flash drive that I could think of was at one of my jobs. I had some forms that I needed to print out and fax. Once I realized that I left it there that day, I called and asked for it to be put away. And I’m sure that I picked it up. Still, I looked around my workspace. And…nothing.

 Next up…I figured it would be in my bag. I had already looked in it. However, I did have a tendency of putting it in odd places in my bag. Whether it was conscious or subconscious, my flash drive never winded up where I thought I put it. Sounds like my gym membership card in that regard. Annnd…NOTHING. After multiple tries and cleaning out every inch of my bag as best I could, there was still no flash drive.

 Then I started searching the odds and ends in my room. There were the spots where I had been known to put my flash drive if I decided I was not taking it with me that day. Or I decided I was going to bed and didn’t want to leave it on the bed and thus crack it or something.

 And I searched.

 And I searched some more.

 NOTHING.

 Flipping out would be an understatement. As I stared at my room, it looked like a tornado had hit it. And my nature as a pack rat probably did not help the case. Papers here. Bags there. An old laptop that no longer had a connection between its charger and battery. Clothes. Magazines. It was all just scattered around my room. And…STILL…NOTHING.

 I was about to throw something. I needed to throw something.

 How could I be so frakking stupid and lose my flash drive. I mean…really?

  BARGAINING

 It was still on my mind. The fact that I had been so stupid. That I had been oh so absent minded.

 I thought…perhaps if I had simply kept myself focused. If I had not allowed my jobs to take up so much of my time during December. Maybe if I just focused on what I was doing. So I decided that I should just…start working on my writing again, perhaps it would show up again. That if I just focused on working on Book 3 which was already waaaaaay behind, maybe right when I needed it my flash drive would fall out from some stray place that I had not even thought about.

 Book 3 had come along nicely from where I stopped. All of my plot threads were in the same room now. They were converging. While something was nagging at my gut, the plot threads were there. Humans, Nosferatu, witches, I even had some hunters pop in…I did not think there was a part of the Darkenverse that was not touched on.

 Yet…something was in my gut. Something was making me pause in my mind. I had learned when it felt like something was off, a character was trying to tell you something.

 I knew how this chapter would end. And that ending would lead into the last half of my book. So I was pretty excited. And yet…there was one plot thread that was important to my main character that was starting to not feel like it would be finished by the end of this book. It was with that realization that I felt that there was another book waiting in the wings. Otherwise, my gut was screaming that this would be a rushed book. And that I did not want.

 This would have been so much easier if I had my flash drive still. But…

 I had to shake myself. I had been like a song on repeat for the last few weeks. If my flash drive was this. If my flash drive was that. Eventually, I had to stop acting like it would turn up at any second if I just tried. If only I had time enough. If I could accept that I did not have time to do all of what I would like to do, then I could accept the truth.

 My flash drive…if not randomly stolen…was gone.

 ACCEPTANCE

 I finally made it home. I got some sandwiches in me. Then I collected my stuff. From there it was off to Starbucks.

 I got my last flash drive out. Then I looked through it. From there, I backed up all my pdf files and files I felt I might need later on…like those transcripts for writing applications for example.

 Then…DELETE, DELETE, DELETE.

 I looked at how much space was left. A smile crept onto my face. It looked like that did the job.

 I had available space again on that flash drive. That was about to be useful.

 I had taken the time to see what I had lost from my other flash drive when I lost it. I had hoped…to no avail. The majority of Darkened Soul: The Breaking of Circles had been lost. In my case, the novella and the epilogue. Not to mention apparently Fredrick’s first story. I would simply have to type it all out again.

 I know, I know. Ugh.

 On the good side, not entirely from starch. So yay for me for some backup…no matter how slow I had gone about doing it. I guess I could make frequent backups a New Year’s resolution then.

 So…now I had a starting point. Somewhere to start and build up to. I had a deadline for all of this. So it was time to get back to some forward motion.

 December might have taken a lot from me. But I guess in the end it had not taken my will. But to get it back, I guess I had to really go through some stages of grief…

   #statesofgrief #states #grief #goals #2019 #writer #thewritinglife #writing #nye #partthesecond #part #second #denial #anger #bargaining #acceptance #darkenedsoul #breakingofcirles #breaking #circles #laptop #darkenverse #thingstocome #gameofthrones #buffythevampireslayer #toshiba 

#statesofgrief #states #grief #goals #2019 #writer #thewritinglife #writing #NYE #partthesecond #part #second #denial #anger #bargaining #acceptance #darkenedsoul #breakingofcircles #breaking #circles #laptop #darkenverse #thingstocome #gameofthrones #buffy the vampire slayer #toshiba

[astridspokemonfic]

Episode 1: A Meeting of Chance!

Narrator: Our world is inhabited with creatures we call Pokemon, each with unique personalities and strengths. Pokemon and people help each other grow and improve in a codependent relationship. Be that in work, play, or battle.

Astrid stretched her legs as she hopped off her bed. Today she would be receiving her first Pokemon from Professor Laurel! While she had virtually no interest in battling, she was most definitely planning on becoming a Top Coordinator. Quickly changing, she ran down the stairs, yelling a quick goodbye to her mother as she left.

She wasn’t the only one who would be starting her journey today. There would be four other kids she would meet today who were also going to get their starters.

Rushing up the hill of her hometown, she mentally ran through the list of pokemon she wanted. She had a first choice, but she was prepared for limited options. Astrid nearly slammed the door open, startling nearby scientists as they eyed her warily. She noticed she was somewhat early and took a seat next to a shorter girl who was reading through a thick book. It seemed that with her included, they were only waiting for one more person.

“Hello! I’m sorry I’m late! I was so interested in the- Oh I’m not late.” A woman in her late twenties came rushing into the lab, actually slamming the door open in her rush. She had frazzled dark red hair, and her glasses were askew on her nose. Given her lab coat, Astrid assumed that this woman was Professor Laurel. The scientist pressed her glasses into place and walked past the seated teenagers, through a door, and deeper in the building. A few moments passed and she popped her head out behind her, looking at them with confusion.

“Well come on then, aren’t y’all excited for your first Pokemon? Yeesh. You bunch aren’t very talkative. The group last month? Wouldn’t shut up.” The woman continued, seemingly ignoring the group behind her. Astrid lagged behind the group as she glanced about the room. Heavy footsteps echoed in her ears as she turned around. Ah. The last teen had arrived, almost late, but arrived nonetheless. Astrid analyzed the girl with a critical eye: She was wearing mostly black, the only bit of color she saw was the dark red belt at her hip, devoid of any Pokeballs so far. She followed the group silently, clearly hoping not to make a scene at her tardiness.

“You all should introduce yourselves to each other while I get the Pokemon ready.” The Prof moved to a side room without so much as a passing glance. All the teens were silent. Someone coughed.

“Uh, my name’s Astrid. I want to be a top Pokemon Coordinator.” She said, hoping to break the ice. The dark-clad girl next to her nodded and decided to go next.

“I’m Janine. I want to be a Pokemon Trainer.” She said simply, offering a handshake. Astrid took it and smiled slightly. The only male in the group spoke up.

“I’m Adrian, and I want to get into the Hall of Fame!” he said smiling brightly at the duo.

“Hi, my name is Andrea, and I want to travel with my Pokemon.” A pretty girl with long hair said softly.

“My name is Sheyla, and I want to become a Pokemon Professor.” The short girl announced in turn, finishing the introductions. The professor hadn’t come back yet.

“So… which Pokemon do you guys want to get?” Andrea asked. Astrid’s eyes lit up at the question.

“I want a Mudkip!” Adrien said first. Astrid nodded, thinking about it. A water/ground type would be a surprise for electric types, but one grass type move would absolutely destroy it with double effectiveness.

“I want a Chikorita!” Astrid said in response. Adrien looked at her as if thinking about a Chikorita’s stats. Before the other girls could respond, Professor Laurel came in holding a large tray of Pokeballs.

“Well, Astrid, you just might get your wish. You too Adrian! I managed to snag 6 traditional starter Pokemon, so you guys are super lucky!” The Prof said setting the tray down. She picked up all 6 balls and threw them into the air with vigor as different Pokemon all popped out in a burst of light. Sure enough, there was a Chikorita strutting amongst the other Pokemon, clearly trying to capture everyone’s attention.

Adrian had immediately rushed towards a Mudkip and was kneeling close to it, conversing quietly. Andrea was already nuzzling a Popplio who seemed to be slightly exasperated with her and a Snivy had actually approached Sheyla outright, looking up at her with an expectant expression. The Chikorita clearly seemed annoyed that no one was paying attention to her and had begun to pout slightly. Astrid beamed; this Pokemon’s personality was perfect for coordinator battles! She approached the Chikorita and knelt in front of it, allowing it to look up at her critically. The Chikorita seemed to accept her as its trainer as it nodded curtly before placing its tiny paw on her knee.

Astrid gathered the grass type into her arms and glanced back at Janine who seemed unsure in her choice.

“You having difficulty choosing?" She asked, startling the other girl out of her thoughts. She nodded sheepishly in response.

“I hadn’t put a lot of thought into this moment I’ll admit.” She conceded.

“Hm. I always knew I wanted a Chikorita, so I wouldn’t know how you feel, but I think that you should go with whatever Pokemon would compliment you.” She advised. Janine nodded and looked across all the Pokemon that were sitting around. Her eyes seemed to scan across all the Pokemon before her eyes settled on a fire type that was hopping around an annoyed Bulbasaur. She stopped for a moment, before a smile spread widely across her face.

“Torchic?” She called, and the Fire-type immediately rushed over to her, tripping a little, but overall reaching her quickly. Janine smiled.

“Would you like to be my first Pokemon?” She asked softly. The Torchic chirped happily in response and hopped onto her lap. Astrid giggled at the overenthusiastic Pokemon. Professor Laurel watched with a gleam in her eye.

“I assume you’ve all chosen the Pokemon you want?”

“Yes!” Astrid spoke up as her Chikorita nodded with a satisfied look on its face. Professor Laurel nodded and led them to a table off to the side.

“These are PokeDexes. Consider them to be sidequests on your journey. I want you all to work on filling them up with as many Pokemon as you can. It’ll be useful for my research.” She allowed the teens to pick up a Pokedex and handed them all five Pokeballs each. “For safety’s sake, I wanted to put you all into groups.” She analyzed them all critically. Janine felt herself shift under the woman’s piercing gaze. “ Hm. Yes, that’ll do fine. You three.” She pointed at Adrian, Sheyla and Andrea. “Annnnd you two.” She flipped her hair and gave a knowing smile to both girls.

“These groups are completely optional; there’s no obligation to stay in the same group. But recently trainers have been going missing at an alarming rate. For my own piece of mind, I was hoping you’d stay in these groups.” She finished.

“Ah! It seems I have to go check on an experiment!” The Prof. herded the teens out with a wave of her hand. “Be safe, and make sure to have fun!”

Janine and Astrid looked at each other and laughed at the woman’s antics, reluctantly nodding and stepping out of the lab.

“We should probably re-do introductions then! My name is Astrid, and I want to be the Top Coordinator in the Niacal Region!” She stated proudly. The Chikorita in her arms nodded, seemingly agreeing with her plan.

“My name is Janine and I want to become the strongest Pokemon Trainer in the Niacal Region!” Janine said with a sudden burst of confidence. Astrid smiled and offered her a handshake.

“So! Let’s get to it!”

“The first gym is in Mistdrive city. I think I want to go there to get my first gym badge.” Janine said, pulling out a town map. Astrid glanced at her Poketch.

“There’s a contest in Rocens City. We could kill two birds with one stone if we passed through there first.”

Both girls came to an agreement.

~*~*~*~*~

“I don’t understand why the first place we have to go through is a forest,” Astrid said, looking through her map frantically. The duo had been walking for what was maybe 15 minutes, but they seemed nowhere close to the end of the forest.

“We needed to get through here to get to Rocens City. From there we can decide where to go.” Janine said, looking at the map over the coordinator’s shoulder.

“Aagh we’ll be stuck here for years!” She groaned. Her Chikorita chirped in response.

“You’re more pessimistic than I thought you’d be.”

“Ugh, that’s cause I didn’t know the Gemlock Forest would be a literal maze!” She said, throwing a pinecone behind her.

“The other group probably passed through here, they left almost immediately,” Janine muttered while Astrid looked around the forest feeling on edge.

“Something doesn’t feel right.” The girl felt like a thousand eyes were piercing into her back. A buzzing sound drew her attention as she whipped around. “Beedrill. Of course. Because this day couldn’t get any worse.”

“Run!” Janine hissed at her. They both sped off in a single direction as they were followed by the irate bee Pokemon.

“We can’t keep running forever you know!” Astrid panted out while her Grass-type Pokemon seemed to be close to tears.

“I know, but what are we supposed to do?!” Janine asked, ducking low to avoid another branch. Astrid dug her sneakers into the ground and spun on her heel to face down the horde of Beedrill.

“Battle them!” Astrid yelled. Chikorita stood in front of her, clearly scared, but determined.

“Chikorita! Use Razor Leaf!” Astrid commanded. The Pokémon chirped and flipped the leaf on its head, summoning sharp leaves towards their attackers. The Beedrill crossed their stingers to protect their bodies, but they continued their assault immediately.

Astrid let out an “Eep!” And turned tail running.

“It’s no use! Chikorita’s moves aren’t effective on Bug-Types! We could probably battle one on one, but there’s too many for any strategy right now!”

Janine paused in thought and glanced at her Torchic.

“Torchic! Use Ember!” The bird hopped up and blew small wisps of Fire at the oncoming horde.

The Beedrill seemed to cower in response, slowing down substantially.

“Perfect! Torchic’s Ember is effective against Bug-type Pokemon!” Astrid shouted. “Let’s get out of here!”

“Great job, Torchic!” Janine yelled. The Torchic chirped happily and hopped up to its trainer. Finally, both girls managed to outrun the angry Beedrill, stopping to rest near a picturesque stream.

“What even set them off anyway?” Janine asked. Astrid huffed and thought back to her actions before.

“Oh my Arceus. I- I think it’s because of the pinecone I threw earlier. It must’ve aggravated them in some way.” Janine gave it some thought before shaking her head.  

“That was so small! There’s no way that got so many Beedrill upset at once.”

“Unless I hit one on the head.” Astrid retorted. Janine reluctantly agreed.

“Now then, we need to get out of this forest,” Janine muttered.

“We could try following the stream! I read once that people settle near water.”

“We could try.” Janine looked both ways of the stream before deciding to go downstream. Astrid followed silently.

“So. What made you decide you wanted to be a trainer?” Astrid asked.

“Hm, I think I wanted the adventure of meeting different kinds of Pokemon and people. I spend a lot of time at home, so this is a new experience. What about you?”

“My mom’s originally from Johto, and so was my dad. I always found Contests super interesting, so I would always practice with my mom’s Lillipup. Though Honey wasn’t very interested in Contests…” Astrid said sheepishly.

“Sounds like Contests are your passion,” Janine noted.

“Yeah. They are. No one in my district was really into Contests though. When I heard I could go on this adventure, I took the first chance I got! So. Why do you want to travel and meet Pokemon?”

“Well my parents were trainers themselves, so there’s a lot of Pokemon at our house, and they seem to keep taking in any they can find! I sort of wanna do the same things they did.” Janine said, thinking back, “My little brother wants to go on a journey too, one day. I think he wanted a Charmander.”

“Solid choice,” Astrid commented. “I don’t have siblings but-”

“Wait.” Janine held up her hand. “Do you hear that?” Astrid went silent for a minute.

“I can’t hear much over the stream- Oh wait I hear it now! It’s sorta… rumbly? Is that a word?”

“We’re in the middle of the forest; So why does it sound like a construction site?”

“Maybe some Timburrs got antsy and decided to build something.”

“We should check it out.”

“Should we really? I don’t think we should get involved- Janine!” Astrid ran to catch up to her friend who was already running towards the sounds. She caught up to the girl when she knelt behind some bushes. “Don’t run off like that!”

Janine grabbed the girl’s arm and motioned for her to be quiet. Astrid gave her a confused look before Janine told her to look through the bushes. It seemed that there was a giant drill boring into the side of a hill.

“That’s got to break like, 4 conservation laws on its own,” Astrid whispered.

“Whatever they’re doing, it’s definitely illegal. Wait. This must be what pissed off those Beedrill earlier! They’re not supposed to be here! They’re invading the Beedrill’s natural habitat.” Janine whispered back. “We need to stop them.”

“What can we do? We barely started our Pokemon journey!”

“Well, we can’t do nothing!” Janine hissed. Astrid considered for a moment. Her Chikorita seemed ready to battle, and Janine’s determination was becoming infectious.

“We need to investigate more.” Astrid decided on. Both Pokemon and Janine gave her an incredulous look. “And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“Wait, what?” Janine paused “I meant we get an Officer Jenny here, what were you thinking?”

“If they’re not doing anything wrong, then they’ll have no problem telling a passing trainer what’s going on.”

“Are you sure about this? There’s a difference between getting the authorities and jumping headfirst into danger.” Janine warned.

“I mean, sure! Why not?” She let out a shaky breath. “This can’t be any different from acting in a play.” The coordinator stood up abruptly and stormed right through the bushes with Chikorita running to match up with Astrid’s pace.

“Excuse me-“ Astrid began, but her eyes widened and she immediately ducked down to a nearby rock, pulling the Chikorita out of anyone’s line of sight. She peeked over the edge to make sure that she wasn’t jumping to any conclusions. Sure enough, there were two trainers who looked vaguely alike that were tied at the wrists and gagged.

“Okay, now this is definitely illegal!” Astrid muttered. She turned to Chikorita. “Chikorita, do you think you could cut those ropes with a razor leaf?” The Chikorita nodded and took careful aim. In one swipe, the ropes had snapped off and the two trainers were free. Both of them looked shocked and confused until Astrid managed to sneak over to them.

“Are you guys okay?”

“No! They took our Pokemon!” One of them said.

“Who did?”

“Team SubZero!” The other answered, wringing her wrists painfully. Astrid took the opportunity to look at the duo. They looked vaguely alike, but they had major differences. One had clearly dyed blonde hair and was skinny. The other’s hair was curlier, and she was wearing a dark blue vest.

“Team SubZero? Like the temperature?”

“No time to explain. We need to get our Pokemon back and stop them from drilling into that mountain.” The blonde said, rushing towards the drill. Astrid looked to the bushes where she knew Janine was crouching with Torchic. She gestured for them to come over, and the trainer discreetly ran to them.

“What’s going on?” Janine asked. “I thought you were going to talk to them.”

“I didn’t need to. This girl was tied up here. Now I am 100% sure that something illegal is going on.”

“Are you okay?” Janine asked the teen. She nodded.

“Kayla.” The blonde from earlier had returned and tossed a Pokeball in her direction. Kayla caught it and immediately released the Rowlet inside. Janine noted that the newcomer had a Charmander nuzzling happily onto their leg.

“We should get out of here,” Astrid said sternly.

“Leave? We can’t-“ Kayla began

“We’ll come back later. We should talk about what’s going on first.” Astrid hissed. Janine considered her for a moment before reluctantly agreeing.

“She’s right.” Janine gave off a sense of finality, leaving the duo with no room to argue. They all snuck off the drill site and back to the safety and coverage of the forest.

~*~*~*~*~

“Now let’s start. My name is Janine, and this is Astrid. We started our Pokemon journey like what? Two? Three?”

“Months ago?” Kayla asked.

“Hours. Around three hours ago.” Astrid intoned, hugging her Chikorita close. “Could you guys please explain what’s going on?”

“Uh okay, my name is Kayla, and this is my twin sister Kaytlyn. We started our adventure around last week. We had decided to come to the Rocens city Forest to train when we heard that rumbling sound from the drill.” Kayla began “I explained this before: We asked what was going on and they used a Hypnos on us. When we woke up we were tied up and our Pokemon were gone. Around an hour later, you came around and rescued us.”

“We had it under control,” Kaytlyn muttered. Astrid scoffed.

“What were you gonna do? Chew through the ropes?”

“...Maybe.”

“As ridiculous as that sounds, it wouldn’t have worked. How did you get your Pokemon back anyway?” Astrid asked

“I dropped a rock on the guy who was supposed to be watching us. He was slacking off.” Kaytlyn smirked.

“Oh my Arceus! Kaytlyn!” Kayla whacked her sister on the arm.

“What?!”

“Is he even alive?!” Kayla hissed

“I mean he wasn’t bleeding…” Kaytlyn muttered. Kayla rolled her eyes at her twin and turned to the duo in front of them.

“How did you guys get caught up in this?” Kayla asked, prompting Astrid to launch into a long-winded tale that boiled down to: because we were too curious for our own good.

“Well, I overheard them talking. I think there’s a weak point in the drill. If we damage the engine enough, we may be able to stop them.” Kaytlyn said. Her Charmander was still nuzzling her leg. She gently nudged it away with her foot.

“That could work. We need to have a coordinated attack though.” Kayla said.

“Coordinated you say?” Astrid interrupted with a shining look in her eye.

“W-What?” Kayla stuttered, put off by the teen’s excitement.

“Oh. Astrid’s Dream is to be the Top Coordinator in Niacal. I assume she has a plan.” Janine said expectantly.

“Mhm! I have somewhat of an idea of what to do.”

~*~*~*~*~

‘So the goal of the plan is to damage the engine as much as possible with your fire type Pokemon.’

Janine and Kaytlyn stealthily snuck behind the drill, carefully hiding just out of sight from any prying eyes.

‘Kayla and I will serve as distractions. We’ll act like I was caught helping Kayla escape’

‘Why do I have to be bait?!’

‘Shush. We’re gonna make it look like I had released Kaytlyn and that I was in the middle of untying Kayla.’

“One of those pesky trainers escaped!” Janine waited until their voices and footsteps had faded away before climbing up and spotting the parka-clad SubZero grunt who was operating the machine.

“Geez, do they ever get warm?” Kaytlyn muttered behind her. Janine silently agreed with her before pulling out a pouch of silver powder and tossing it to Kaytlyn.

‘You guys could knock out the driver with Chikorita’s poison powder.’

‘Won’t that kill him?’

‘Only if ingested orally. Other than that, he’ll just lose all feeling from the neck below’

Kaytlyn quickly climbed up the side of the drill, stopping just underneath the window to the driver’s seat.

Kaytlyn carefully blew the powder at the man above her, watching him slump down onto the dashboard, unable to speak. She smirked at his fallen body and repressed the urge to draw all over his face. Kaytlyn gave Janine a thumbs up before climbing into the vehicle herself. She made sure the keep it running, to prevent any suspicion.

‘We only have one shot at this so make sure it’s a direct hit. You’ll need to get in and open up the control panel for the engine.’

Janine carefully ran her hands along the side of the drill before she felt the slightly raised surface of the panel.

“Ha! Gottem!” Janine smiled triumphantly, using a stick as a crowbar as she popped the cover off the panel.

“Oh wow.” She muttered. She had a clear view to the engine. “This is so not secure.” She turned to the Charmander and Torchic next to her who were both excited to help.

“Alright. Torchic use your strongest Ember straight through that hole. Charmander, I think Kaytlyn said you knew Ember too?” The Charmander let out a soft wheezing sound before nodding. “Alright let’s do that.”

Both Pokemon took in big inhales of air before letting them out at the engine. From the driver’s seat, Kaytlyn could already feel the dashboard getting warmer. The teen waited until she felt the drill shudder to a stop and then begin to shake. She pushed the grunt out and hopped down herself. Janine pulled away from their fire types to help Kaytlyn drag the body away into the brush.

“Hey! You guys done yet?” Astrid yelled, running up to them with Kayla lagging behind in a slow jog.

“What happened? I thought you guys were gonna be distractions.” Kaytlyn asked. Astrid sighed.

“It didn’t work out. They caught up way too quickly, so we just battled them. Luckily they had mostly Normal-Types. Is the engine done?”

“Almost. It’ll pop any second now.” Janine said, glancing through to the engine. “Oh yeah, it’s definitely gonna pop soon-the engines melting!”

“If that’s the case we better get out of here,” Astrid said, grabbing Kayla’s wrist and dragging the already panting girl to the safety of the forest. Janine and Kaytlyn quickly followed.

The boom of the explosion still rang in Janine’s ears as she watched the drill go up in smoke. Astrid laughed gleefully and pulled the other three into a close hug.

“I knew something was up when the Beedrill got mad.” Janine pointed out.

“Yes, yes. You were right.” Astrid conceded. Their joy was cut short when a piercing screech echoed from the clearing with the drill.

“Who did this?!” The group turned to see a 20 Something-year-old woman wearing earmuffs and yet another white parka, as she raged at the destroyed machine. “This drill was supposed to be indestructible! How did you fools destroy it?!” The grunts cowered away from her perfectly manicured nails. Janine snorted. The drill was clearly not indestructible. She turned to the trio next to her who were watching apprehensively.

“You guys don’t have to join me.” She muttered.

“Wait what? Janine-“ the teen stood in the clearing, Torchic proudly standing tall at her calf.

“I broke your stupid machine!” Janine yelled, calling the attention of the woman and the surrounding grunts.

“You brat! That was private property! I’ll have you thrown in jail for this. Janine swallowed nervously.

“Well, this forest is protected property of Niacal! You can’t drill here!” Astrid ran in with Chikorita in her arms. She placed a hand at Janine’s shoulder in reassurance.

“Ah. Two Brats.”

“Four.” The twins stepped up, both of their Pokemon raring to go. Dozens of grunts surrounded them, boxing them in and preventing escape.

“I got rid of you the first time, I’ll do it again.” The woman called out a Glalie that stared down at them icily.

Astrid leaned to Janine, whispering. “Glalie is an Ice-type. Our best bet would be your Torchic and Kaytlyn’s Charmander.” The trainer nodded and signalled for her Torchic to get ready.

“You don’t have to fight them, Ciela.” A male voice called from behind a wall of grunts. A man in his late teens stepped between the identically dressed grunts. He wore a white lab coat and had an easygoing air about him. His dull brown hair was slicked back “Our preliminary research was a fluke. There’s nothing in this forest. Below ground or otherwise.”

“So these past two days were a waste of time?!” Ciela shrieked again in her shrill pitch. “I’m not explaining this to the boss, Lucian!”

“Fair enough. But we’re wasting our time here.” Lucian stopped, suddenly serious. “Let’s not cause any more trouble.” Ciela seemed to disagree but reluctantly recalled her Glalie. She gave the trainers a piercing glare over her shoulder as the grunts followed the scientist guy.

When all of Team SubZero had left, Astrid collapsed onto her knees in relief.

“That was so nerve-wracking! If every day as a trainer is going to be like this I don’t think I’ll survive a week!” She said. Kayla let out an involuntary wheeze as she chuckled at the girl’s antics.

“We should probably report this to the Officer Jenny at Rocens though,” Kaytlyn said, sitting down next to the dark haired teen.

“Oh yeah. We still need to get out of this forest.” Janine said, causing her partner to groan in annoyance.

“Wait, what?” Kayla was extremely confused

“Oh yeah, the whole reason we were in this mess in the first place was because we couldn’t get through this forest,” Janine explained.

“Hey, wait a minute, we’ve already been to Rocens city! We could help lead you out of the forest,” Kaytlyn said.

“I am suddenly super happy that we ran into both of you.” Astrid smiled, throwing an arm over Kayla’s shoulder. The coordinator began to talk the others’ ear off about contests. Her twin was listening in, giving her opinion from time to time.

Janine let out a tired sigh and the four headed to Rocens city as the sky began to stain orange.